Heel-building machine



Mar. 6, 1923. v 1,447,369.

E. E.W|NKLEY. HEEL BUILDING MACHINE. I

FILED 0156.22, 191]- IE SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Mar. 6, 1923. I 1,447,369;

I E. E.WINKLEY.

HEEL BUILDING IvIAcIIIIIE.

FILED DEC. 22 I917- 16 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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- E. E.W|NKLEY.

HEEL BUILDING MACHINE,

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Mar. 6, 1923. I

' 1,447,369. E. E. WINKLEY. V HEEL BUILDING MACHINE.

FILED 050.22. 1912. I6 sums-sum z.

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Mar; 6; 1923.

E. E. WINKLEY. HEEL BUILDING MACHINE;

. FILED DEC. 22., I9II- l6 SHEETS-SHEET H- Mar. 6, 1923. 1,447,369.

E- E. WINKLEY.

HEEL BUILDING MACHINE.

FILED DEC.22, 19]]- IE SHEETSSHEET X2- 67 we a a fmauwmmw Mar. 6, 1923.-

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Patented Mar. e, was.

Sisal-i133 @rtli'il ERASTUS E. WINKLEY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE .MACHINERY CORPORATION, 05' YATF-RSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

HEEL-BUILDENG MACHINE.

Application filed December 22, 1917.

lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apper-' tains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to. a machine for automatically assembling orbuilding heels.

More particularly, the invention relates to a heel-building or assembling machine for automatically and progressively building sections of leather lifts and for securing the same to previously and extraneously formed leatherboard heel blocks that are successively fed to the machine to form a complete heel, although the invention is not limited to this general combination since important features thereof are embodied in the various individual mechanisms and devices which act successively on the heel, or part thereof, to secure the final result.

In Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,372,059 granted to me March 22, 1921, there is shown and described a heel assembling machine in whichleather lifts are,

positioned upon and attached to a series of previously formed leatherboard heel blocks. In this machine, however, the leather lifts are assembled by hand and manually placed in suitable arms that transfer the lifts and superpose them uponthe intermittently advanced heel blocks, to which they are nailed or otherwise secured.

One of the objects of the present invention is to improve the construction and operation of the prior machine above referred to, and to provide a machine of this type which shall be entirely automatic in its action and which shall function withrapidity and accuracy to produce the desired results.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above indicated character which shall comprise novel means for building sections of superposed leather lifts, and novel means for attaching such sections to the previously and extraneously formed heel blocks.

A further object of theinvention is to Serial No. 208,444.

provide means for insuring that the component leather and lcatherboard sections are of the proper dimensions before they are attached together.

To these ends, one feature of the machine comprises a series of independent intermittently actuated cars or carriers upon which the leather lifts are progressively superposed in successive asscm-bling stations by the aid of concurrently operative pickers which transfer lifts thereto from a row of magazines or lift-holders. The independence of the several carriers permits any carrier to be individually handled in a manner different from the rest of the. carriers. Each carrier is arranged to sustain one. or more downwardly projecting pointed members upon which the t ansferred lifts are im paled by a reciprocating plunger. It has been found convenient in p actice to employ the nail which are used to secure the leather heel-section to the leatherboard heel-section, as the pointed members on which the leather lifts are impaled. A. preferred, but not essential, construction of .the carriers, therefore, provides for holding a plurality of nails projecting from the face against which the leather lifts are assembled,

Another feature of the machine resides in the means for positioning the previously and extraneously formed leatherboard heel blocks beneath and in registry with the assembled and impaled lifts, and in the mechanism driving the aforesaid nails free from the carriers and into the heel blocks to hold the component sections together.

A further feature ofthe invention incluc es measuring apparatus which serves to separately measure the assembled sections of leather lifts and the leatherboard heel blocks prior to their attachment, and to eject both in case either one varies from its predetermined proper dimension.

Qther objects of the invention, and the features of construction and operation by vhich they are attained, will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the illustrated embodiment of the invention. The invention, in its broader aspects, is not confined to the specific structural details and mode of operation set forth, and the advantages and benefits thereof may be attained bymachines differing widely in certain respects from that shown and described. Furthermore, the invention as herein set forth, is not lim ited to the conjoint use of all its features, and it will be understood from the following description that it is within the scope of the invention to use some features without others or to combine the various features in a different manner than is described as the preferred combination. Therefore, only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated infthe appended claims.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which, Figures 1 and 2 taken together, constitute a plan view of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention; Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation looking at the front of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 1 is a view in end eleva tion looking from right to left in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of a portion of the machine looking from the back of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 6 is a view, partially in end elevation and partially in section, of the machine. the section bein taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; Fig. is a view, partially in side elevation and partially in section, along the line 7-7 of Fig. 1, showing particularly a portion of one of the lift magazines and slidable picker members, the picker member being illustrated in the act of removing one of the lifts from the magazine; Fig. 8 is a view, partially in side elevation and partially in section, taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 2, and illustrating particularly the rel ative positions of a carrier, a picker member,

the pasting and impaling apparatus, and the lift supporting devices, when the pasting and lmpallng apparatus occupies-its raised posltlon after having impaled the last lift upon the nails of the carrier; Fig. 9 is an enlarged plan view of the upper face of a portion of one of the lift magazines; Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional view, on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9, of one of the lift magazines; Fig. 11 is an enlarged view, partially in section and partially in side elevation. of the gripping fingers of one of the picker members, the section being taken along the line 11-11 of Fig. 12; Fig. 12 is a plan view, partially in section, of a part of the machine, showing particularly the picker members, lift-supporting fingers and certain of the carriers occupying a nail-loading position, a measuring position and a nailing position. certain of the parts being removed for the sake of clearness; Fig. 13 is an enlarged sectional view,-taken on the line 13-13 of Fig. 7, and showing certain parts of one of thepicker members; Fig. 14 is an enlarged plan view of one of the lift carriers; Fig. 15 is an enlarged sectional view, on the line 15-15 of 14:; Fig. 16 is an enlarged view in the side elevation of the heel block transferring carriage; Fig. 17 is a bottom plan view of the nail gripping devices embodied in the several carriers; Fig. 18 is an enlarged view, partially in section and partially in elevation, of the pasting and liftimpaling apparatus, and lift-supporting fingers, the section being taken on the line 18-18 of Fig. 19; Fig. 19 is an enlarged sectional view, along the line 19-19 of Fig. 18, showing the pasting apparatus and driving clutch; Fig. 20 is a view in side elevation, looking from left to right, of the apparatus shown in Fig. 19; Fig. 21' is an enlarged plan view of the pasting and lift-impaling apparatus, and driving clutch shown in Figs, 18, 19 and 20; Fig. 22 is a view, partially in section and partially in elevation, of a portion of the machine, illustrating particularly the nail loading device and its actuating mechanism, the section being taken along the line 22-22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 23 is an enlarged view in end elevation of a portion of the machine as illustrated in-Fig. a, and showing particularly a lift carrier and the heel block transferring carriage in its raised position preparatory for the nailing operation; Fig. 24: is an enlarged plan view of the heel block transferring carriage shown in Fig. 16; Fig. 25 is an enlarged View, partially in section and partially in side elevation, of a portion of the right-hand end of the machine, and. illustrating especially the heel block transferring carriage, the nailing mechanism and the mechanism for raising the carriage into its nailing position, the section being taken along the line 2-5-25 of Fig. 4:; Fig. 26 is a view partially in section and partially in end elevation, of the machine, the section being taken along the line 26-26 of Fig. 3, and illustrating particularly the measuring mechanism; Fig. 27 is a detail plan view of a portion of the measuring mechanism shown in Fig. 26, and looking downward from the line 27-27; Fig. 28 is a view in elevation of a portion of the measuring mechanism shown in Fig. 26; Fig. 29 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the measuring mechanism. taken on the line 29-29 of Fig. 28; Fig. 30 is a view in side elevation of a portion of the measuring mechanism shown in Fig. 28, and Fig. 31 is a plan view, partially in section, of a portion of. the measuring mechanism shown in Fig. 28. the sectionbeing taken on the line 31-31 of Fig. 28.

Referring to the drawings, the machine shown comprises in general, a frame 32 for supporting the various component elements embodied in the machine; a plurality of lift magazines or holders 34 for containing stacks of leather lifts L of graded characteristics; a plurality of independent individually handled carriers or cars 36 upon which leather lifts are progressively assembled in the form of heel piles and which carriers are actuated step-by-step through a nail loading station, a plurality of liftassembling stations, a measuring station and a nailing station; a plurality of supporting and guiding tracks 38 and 4.0 in the form of elongated ellipses upon which the carriers 36 are adapted to travel through the various stations; an intermittent carrier feed and lock mechanism 12, whereby the several carriers 36 are actuated step-by-step through their successive stations and are positively loc red therein, a continuously operating chain conveyor -14 for actuating the several carriers from the nailing station around the remaining portion of the tracks 38 and 40 to the nail-supplying station; a plurality of picker members 46 for removing the low erinost lifts L from their respective lift magazines and transferring them laterally to the various assembling stations beneath the respective carriers; a nail-loading mechanism 18 (Fig. 22) for supplying nails N to the gripping means of the several carriers 36 when they respectively occupy the nailloading station, a pasting and lift-impaling apparatus 50 for applying paste to the bottom surfaces of the various lifts after they have been transferred by the picker members'to the assembling stations and for impaling said lifts upon the nails that are gripped in the several carriers 86; a backing device 52 extending longitudinally of the machine and located above the various liftassembling stations and against which the sever-a1 carriers are raised during the impaling operation; a lift-supporting device 54 adapted to slide laterally for engaging the lower surfaces of the several lifts L after they have been impaled upon the nails N of the respective carriers 36 for the purpose of preventing the withdrawal of the lifts when the paste-applying and lift-impaling apparatus 50 is removed; heel-block supplying conveyors 56 and 58, the former being adapted to supply previously formed heelblocks B from a suitable source and the latter being adapted to transfer the blocks successively from the supply conveyor to an other portion of the machine; a heel-block carriage 60 to which the heel-blocks B are transferred by the heel-blockconveyor 5S and which actuates said blocks to the nailing station in which the blocks are positioned in registry with the assembled lifts L upon the carrier which occupies the nailing station; a measuring and ejecting appzratus 62 for gaging the heights of the assembled leather lifts and the previously formed heel-blocks and for ejecting any assembled pile of lifts or blocks that vary from predetermined dimensions; a nailing and pressure mechanimn 64 for nailing the piles of assembled lifts on the respective carriers to the previously formed heel-blocks positioned upon the block transferring carriage and for subjecting the assembled lifts and blocks to pressure; and a heel removal conveyor 66 for carrying away the completed heels that are built by the machine.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 1, 5 and 6, the stationary frame 32, upon which the component elements of the machine are mounted, comprises side pedestal members 70 and 71, which are rigidly connected by means of cross-members 72 and 73, and which support a bed plate or table 7-1. A plurality of upwardly projecting bracket-s or supporting plates 76, 78 and 79 are mounted upon the bed plate 74 near the respective ends thereof.

The side pedestals 70 and 71 carry in suitable bearings 80 and 82 a main cam shaft 8a, which is rotatably mounted therein and which carries a loosely mounted sleeve or hub 86 that is provided with a sprocket 88 that is fixed thereto. A main drive chain 90 cooperatively engages the teeth of the sprocket 88 and is driven in any well-known manner from a suitable source of power (not shown). The chain 90 also cooperates with the teeth of an idler sprocket 92 (Figs. 5 and 6), which constitutes a part of an adjustable tension device. The sprocket 92 is rotatably mounted upon a shaft 94:, having hearings in a bifurcated arm 96 that is pivoted to the frame (Fig. 6). The arm 96 is provided with a portion 98 which is adapted to be engaged by the lower end of a rod 100 which loosely projects through the respective ends of a yoke member 102 that is secured to the cross beam 72. A coil spring 104 surrounds the rod 100 between a collar 105 that is pinned to the rod 100 and a plate 107 that loosely surrounds the same. said spring 104 serving to act upon the rod 100 to yieldingly hold the idler sprocket 92 in such a position as to maintain the desired tension upon the drive chain 90. Adj ustable set screws 106 are threaded through the upper end of the yoke member 102 and cooperate with the plate 107 for adjusting the position of said plate and thus varying the strength of the spring 10 1, whereby the tension of the drive chain 90 may be adjusted to any desired amount.

One end of the sprocket sleeve 86, which is rotatably mounted upon the cam shaft 84, is provided with a gear 108 that meshes with a cooperating gear 110 that is fixed to an auxiliary shaft 112, that is rotatably supported in suitable bearings in the side pedestal 70 and a dependent bracket 114 that is secured to the frame. The shaft 112 is also provided with a fixed gear 116 that meshes with cooperating gear 118 that is fixed to the cam shaft 84 of the machine. The cam shaft 84: is provided with a plurality of cams 120, 121, 122, 123, 124. 125, 126, 127 128 and 129, by means of which the various componentmechanisms of the machine are actuated in the proper timed cooperation as will hereinafter be fully set forth.

The side pedestal 71 is provided with a lug 132 (Fig. 4) for supporting one end ofa shaft 134, the other end of which is mounted in a lug 136 (Fig. 6) that is associated with the upper end of a supporting bracket 138 which is secured to the cross-bracket 353. The various operating levers and belleranks that cooperate with the several cams of the machine are mounted upon the shaft 134, as will hereinafter appear.

Having described the general construction of the supporting frame of the machine, together with the mode of mounting certain of the most important shafts, consideration will be given to the various devices and mechanisms which go to make up the machine as a whole.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 7, 9 and 10, the construction of the lift magazines or holders 34 will now be set forth. The lift magazines 34 are mounted in inclined positions in a row upon the bed-plate 7 4 at the front of the machine, and each comprises a breast plate 140 and a V- shaped heel member 142, which supports upon its respective faces a plurality of extended plates 144 that project upwardly and are adapted to engage the heel portions of a'plurality of leather lifts L of graded sizes which are stacked in the magazine. The V- shaped heel member 142 is inclined to the horizontal and is provided with a base portion 146 which is connected therewith by a rib 148 and which is provided with spaced feet 150 that rest upon the bed-plate 74 and are secured thereto by means of bolts 152. The several feet 150 are provided with slots ']54 through which the bolts 152 project,

whereby the V-shaped heel member 142 and its associated plates 144 may be adjusted in position to accommodate the size of the lifts which are to be stacked in the magazine. The feet 150 of the adjacent heel members 142 are conveniently disposed the one above the other (Fig. 3) in order to bring the slots into registry whereby a single bolt 152 serves in common to fasten both heel members to the bed-plate 74.

Each of the breast plates 140 is disposed substantially parallel to the inclined heel members 142 and is secured at its upper end to a longitudinal rod 156 by means of a lug 158 that is associated therewith. The supporting rod 156 is mounted at its respective ends upon upwardly projecting arms 160 and 162 (Fig. 3) that constitute integral. parts of the respective brackets 7 6 and 78. The lower end of the breast plate 140 is provided with a boss 164 that is secured to a cross-bar 166 that extends longitudinally of the machine and is supported at its respective ends by means of arms 168 and 170 (Figs. 1 and 2), which are fixed to a shaft 172 that is suitably mounted on the up wardly projecting brackets 76 and 78.

Between the lugs 158 and 164, the breast plate 140 is provided with spacedlugs 174 and 176 (Figs. 6 and 9), in which a rod 178 is fixedly mounted. The rod 178 is threaded throughout its upper portion and is provided with a knurled thumb screw 180 that forms a part of a spool having spaced flanges 182. The spool is threaded to cooperate with the threads on the rod 17 8 where by the said spool is caused to traverse the rod longitudinallywhen the thumb screw 180 is turned. A block or plat-e 184 is loosely mounted on the rod 178 and is provided with tapering slots 186 that are convergent downwardly. An L-shaped plate 188 is screwed to a boss 190 on the block 184 and its short arm 189 is provided with a semi-circular recess which forms spaced outer arms which project loosely into the groove between the flanges 182 of the travelling spool in such 'manner that the longitudinal movements of the spool are transmitted to the slotted block 184.

The tapering slots 186 are adapted to receive the ends of pins 191 that are respectively carried by the upper ends of levers 192, which are oppositely disposed and pivotally mounted to the breast plate 140 upon pins 194. The lower ends 196 of the levers 192 are provided with angularly disposed plates 198, which serve as guides to cooperatively engage sides of the leather lifts L that are stacked in the lower end of the magazine. By suitably adjusting the spacing of the guide plates 198 by means of the thumb screws 180, the several magazines may be adapted to guide and definitely position any size of lifts.

The'lower end of the breast plate 140 is provided with a centrally located longitudinal recess 200 (Figs. .7 and 8), in which is located a loosely mounted finger or gate 202. The upper end of the gate 202 carries a pin 204 that is adapted to loosely rest in recesses 206 that are formed in the sides of a channel or U-shaped member 208 that projects outwardly from the breast plate 140, and is attached thereto over the central recess 200 therein (Fig. 9). The lower end of the gate 202 is provided with a pin 210 that is movably positioned in elongated slots 212 in the respective sides of the channel member 208. The lower end of the gate 202 is further provided with a laterally extending plate 214 that has a beveled lower edge. The gate 202 is normally maintained in the position shown in Fig. 7 by means of a spring 216 which surrounds a rod 218 that has a pivotal knife-edgebearing 219 upon the gate 202 and projects through on opening in the bridging portion of the channel member 208. 

